One smashed helmet, one route, 1 friend so ill he wished he was dead and another 1 friend we thought was dead, days of ups and downs at 3-5000m, incredible amounts of dust, copious quantities of naan, rice and salty tea, horses and donkeys, helpful Wakhi, useless Kirghiz on opium, roads that got confused with rivers, rockfalls and mudslides, drivers that make Egyptians look tame and vehicles held together with Sellotape, customs officials demanding gifts and the truck stuck in the river that became a bridge. Now, finally, after a shower and a few beers,sat in Dushanbe Airport waiting for an early flight at the end of a month's expedition to Afghanistan. We didn't summit the peak we were after and whilst descending from an acclimatisation route one of us was almost seriously injured but we are happy to be all alive and well. Full story to follow when I get home.